


Not Quite Parkour

by Elf (Elfwreck)



Category: Leverage, NCIS
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Crossover, Escape, Foster Parents, Gen, Gift Fic, Making Friends, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29669559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfwreck/pseuds/Elf
Summary: There are four other kids in the group home; she doesn't catch any of their names. But that means they have all the actual bedrooms, and she gets what's left over.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	Not Quite Parkour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hagar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/gifts).



The new foster parents are Type 1 and Type 3: Dull mousy woman and sleazy party boyfriend. He looks like he's the beer-and-cigarettes kind, not the boxed-wine-and-weed kind. She looks like the mac-and-cheese kind, not the all-you-can-eat pizza place kind. There are four other kids in the group home; she doesn't catch any of their names. But that means they have all the actual bedrooms, and she gets what's left over.

Her new room is GREAT. It's in the attic, a tiny little space with a cot, old furniture, boxes stacked in the corners ("Don't touch those; we'll clear 'em out later.") (They won't.) and a _window._ She loves windows. Windows are _freedom_.

[](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Attic_bedroom.jpg)

There's no tree next to the window. But one of the boxes has some rope and another one has a metal garden claw. She waits until almost midnight—when Mouse Lady is in bed and Mr. Sleaze is passed out on the couch—to climb out the window and over the roof.

Climbing up is easy, and so's moving around the house so she's not facing the street. Down is… that's a long way down.

She ties the rope to the handle of the garden claw and hooks it over the rain gutter. She's light; it can hold her. Probably. 

She wraps the cord around one hand and lowers herself over the edge, takes two steps down, wraps the cord around her other hand and unwraps the top hand, two more steps, wrap-unwrap, until she gets to the bottom. Her hands hurt. Maybe she should get some gloves. But she probably wouldn't be able to keep them; she never knows what she'll be able to bring to the next house.

Once she's down, she has another problem: The claw is still up top. She doesn't want to leave it there; she might need to use a different way in. But if she just wiggles the cord and yanks it down, it could fall anywhere. Like, on her. Or on the car, and make enough noise to wake the new foster parents.

She looks around the yard and decides the spindly tree will hold her weight. She climbs to about half the height of the house, yanks on the cord, and the claw unhooks and flies into the tree trunk. Then she climbs down and wraps it up.

"That was so cool!"

She spins around to see a girl dressed all in black watching her.

_Oh fuck. I am in so much trouble._

"How did you do that?" The girl's smiling, and doesn't look like she's about to yell for parents, so …cool? Cool. 

"Parkour," she says smugly. She doesn't know if it counts as parkour if you're not actually in a big city; she's never seen parkour videos in small towns in Louisiana. But she figures if _she_ doesn't know, neither does this girl.

"Did you say Parker? Is your name Parker? Hi, I'm Abby. I live over there," she waves at a house down the block.

 _Parker_. She likes that.

"Um. Yeah. Parker."

"SO cool!" Abby says. "Wanna go hang out at the park? It's really creepy at this time of night!" 

"Sure." 

She— _Parker_ —has nothing else to do. She's confirmed she can get out of the house and she's made a friend. _And_ she has a new name.

Maybe this one will stick.


End file.
